CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLDS PROGRAMME
Establishing support networks and economic opportunities for children living alone.
Children who have been orphaned, abandoned or left to care for a parent or older relative face a desperate and isolated future. No matter their age, they bear the responsibility of providing for themselves and their family.
Living without someone to care for them or a household income, these children are often unable to access food, education or medical facilities, and struggle to deal with their grief and trauma.
Through our Child Headed Households Programme in Malawi and Uganda, we are working with three of our partners to support and protect these children by:
MOBILISING
community volunteers as parental figures who visit the households regularly, providing guidance, counselling and a helping hand in their homes.
HELPING
each household to get an immediate source of income, providing cooking equipment so they can sell baked goods or bicycles which they can use as a local taxi service.
GIVING
them livestock, such as goats and pigs, which are an economic safety net as not only do they provide a food source and manure for fertiliser, but also offspring that they can sell.
TEACHING
each household how to start and grow their own food garden, and providing them with seeds and fertiliser.
“Before my business, I was so vulnerable. Now I know I have the potential to do anything.”
George is a member of our Child Headed Households Programme in Malawi.
THE IMPACT
Children feel less isolated and lonely, and know that they have a community network to support them.
Households have an increased ability to afford food and necessities, such as soap and clothes.
As their livestock multiplies, they can start to afford school fees so their siblings can return to school.
Check out our latest Progress Report to find our more about the highlights and achievements of the programme in 2023:
OUR REACH
To date, through our Child Headed Households Programme, we have worked with:
child headed households, establishing local support networks and economic opportunities.
community volunteers, training them to support child headed households.
children who are living without the support of a parent or guardian.
OUR OTHER PROGRAMMES
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